Under Australian law, a proprietary limited company, abbreviated as Pty Ltd company, Pty Ltd, or P/L, is a business structure that has at least one shareholder with a limited number of shares.
Under the governing Australian Corporations Act company must either be:
- Limited by shares (Ltd), where shareholders are afforded more protection when it comes to the level of liability that they face for company debts; or
- unlimited, where shareholders face unlimited liability.
The Pty Ltd company must have at least one shareholder and must have no more than 50 non-employee shareholders and at least one director who must live in Australia with an appointed secretary that must be at least 18 years of age. One person may simultaneously hold the positions of company director and secretary.
Proprietary limited companies are also classified as “large” or “small”. A proprietary company is classified as small only if it meets at least two of the following criteria:
- It has a gross operating revenue of less than $25 million for the financial year
- It has assets of less than $12.5 million at the end of a financial year.
- It has fewer than 50 employees at the end of a financial year.
Most large Pty/Ltd company structures have to lodge audited accounts. Small Pty/Ltd companies only have to prepare audited financial statements if ordered to do so by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) or members holding five percent of voting shares and, in some cases, if controlled by a foreign company.
This information can be visited at the Wikipedia site.
To register a Pty Ltd Company simply go to www.companiesnow.com.au/Company-Incorporations.html
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Can a partnetship with two or three partners from the same family became a company pty Ltd, using the same name as the one listed in the Australian business registration
and can we use the same ABN and name.
What do we need to do this.
regards
Gladys
Hi Gladys,
Yes you can register a company in that way. You simply advise us that the name is an existing business name and provide us with the ABN and name on the order form.
You can also nominate what roles you want each of the partners to play in the business, such as Directors, secretaries etc. All parties can also be directors if they require or some may choose simply to be shareholders etc.
I hope this helps and if you need any further help dont hesitate to call or email.
Regards
Rich
Gladys forgot to mention you can access all our information on our website at http://www.companiesnow.com.au
Just wondering how a person would go about entering an existing pty ltd company?
Regards
Elissa
Hi Elissa,
You will need to complete a form called 484. You can either do it yourself with ASIC and print and send in or a registered agent (either the agent that registered the company or other agents) can complete this for you.
We can help you with this if you want simply send us an email.
Regards
Rich
I work for a Pty Ltd company and recently agreed to be a Director. Can you tell me if I would be liable for any debt incurred by the company. Also, does Australian law determine a renumeration for Director’s duties?
Best Regards,
George
Hi George,
You can read more about this here Directors and company debt
In regards to the renumeration I am unsure of that, there is a Press release at the Treasures website that may be of help though just go to treasurer.gov,au.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Rich
can a pensioner become a director of a pty ltd company
Hi Joan,
Yes a pensioner can become a director of a Pty Ltd Company.
Regards
Rich